Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field food and beverage serving devices and more particularly to dual purpose food plates with removable beverage containers.
Description of the Prior Art
Food and beverages are often served at social and business gatherings such as sporting events, conferences, festivals, barbecues, and the like. Often times there are not enough tables or horizontal surfaces for a person to properly eat from a plate of food while holding a beverage leading to spills and the uncomfortable consumption of the food and beverage.
Numerous attempts have been made in the art to overcome this dilemma. For example; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2011/0095032 published Apr. 28, 2011 by Evans describes a party plate with an aperture in the center of the plate to receive a beverage container holder. Evans also describes a series of perforations located within the beverage container. One of the disadvantages of the Evans plate is that an aperture in the center of the plate allows food and other items located on the plate to escape through the aperture when the beverage container is not attached. This is an inconvenient feature and makes this particular plate unusable without the required beverage container attached. Additionally, even with the beverage container attached, users may not want liquids such as gravy to run through the perforations in the container and onto their beverages or other items which may be placed within the beverage holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,028, issued Mar. 8, 1994 to Patterson, describes a plate with a glass holder formed on its bottom, where the plate includes a plate holder adapted to hold a separate disposable plate. A problem with this invention is that the glass holder on the bottom side is not level making it difficult to set down on a flat surface such as a table.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,396, issued Jul. 24, 1984 to Harper, discloses a plate having a recess for the lower end of a glass in its upper surface allowing a user to insert their thumb into the recess to hold the plate. A disadvantage of this invention is that a movement or relief of the thumb pressure by the user may allow the glass to become dislodged and spill outside the glass.
Although many attempts have been made in art to overcome the challenge of holding both a food plate and a beverage in one hand, none of the related inventions have overcome all of the drawbacks and disadvantages outlined herein. What is therefore needed in the field is a sturdy, dual purpose food plate capable of being secured as needed to a beverage and article container and allowing a user to place the plate onto a flat surface if available, or, to hold the plate with container in one hand without fear of spills or leakages.